The Linden Stansted

Turned up on Sunday 11 May for pre booked Sunday lunch to find a sign on the door saying the place is now in administration and is closed. Hopefully anyone else booked and thinking of booking might see this post. We had driven 120 mile round trip.

The last time I stayed here, about 16 months ago, I scored the hotel 5/5. Wow. What a rapid fall from grace. We booked two nights, Sunday and Monday. Once again, the room was very good (room 4 this time). That’s where the good news ends. Service and facilities were truly awful. We ate elsewhere in the village on Sunday evening. When we got back, at about 9.15pm, everything was locked up and we used the night entrance. The lock is loose, so it took us a long time to work out the trick movement to get it to open. When we came down to breakfast the next morning, there was just one staff member around. This chap was really friendly and made our breakfast fine. But he was order taker, cook, waiter, clearer-up, and receptionist. He was also in much pain from severe gout in his knee. He told us he’d probably have to arrange cover and go home. We went off for the day on Monday, came back at about 6.15pm and found the main door locked up and the hotel in darkness. There was a note on the door to say they’d closed due to staff sickness and there was a phone number for anyone who needed to check in. The night door had been left open, so the place had been left unsecured. When we got to our room, it had not been made up or re-stocked with supplies. The place was deserted, and it felt very unsafe. We decided there and then to cut our stay short and return home to the Midlands. I texted the number on the door to this effect and said where we’d left the keys. At the time of writing this review, some 21 hours later, the message remains unread. Our stay bore all the hallmarks of a business whose owners had lost interest. Lo and behold, I just looked them up on Companies House and Liquidators were appointed to the business in January of this year. It seems quite dodgy that they’re still taking bookings and money, and providing a rubbish experience. I’ve just looked what I paid. It was £260 for 2 nights. But in looking this up, I discovered that I didn’t receive booking confirmation email and receipt. Just the webpage confirmation and an email reminder a couple of days before. Again, pretty dodgy practice that I will follow up with the Receivers. Such a shame. Based on my previous stay, this place would have been a goldmine if they’d marketed it properly..

Room are very nice. Location is great if you’re travelling from Stansted airport. But the service is complete rubbish. We had a one night stay with breakfast. The tv did not work, and as for the breakfast, could not tell you as no one was there to cook it when I mean no one was there the whole place was closed when we left at 10:30 and still no one. There was nobody to give the keys to so we had to leave them in the cleaners cupboard. Got charged twice for the same room so will see if we get the money back. Whoever owns this place needs to get a grip of what’s going on here. STAY AWAY… Safety Shocking, as we were the only couple there after they closed up at 19:30, happened to see the manager whilst he was leaving and he said if you need anything I only live across the road give me a call. We tried phoning the number that are in the rooms but nobody picked up. Down stairs fire door was left open (which we closed) so definitely not safe, as anyone could have got in.

We have used the Linden for previous work meetings and were mostly happy with the food and service so we thought we knew what to expect and we booked our work Christmas meal there. Unfortunately we didn’t read the recent reviews before booking. The venue is a nice building with one large dining room and a bar. The bedrooms are stunning and nice and clean. In the days before the event we were sent a slightly unusual menu and asked to send in our food choices. There were no starters or side dishes on this menu, just mains with a ‘bubble and squeak’ or mashed potato option and a choice of three desserts. After a telephone conversation with the venue we got some starters added and a ‘carrot and swede mash’ option was also added. The vegetarian options were poor. There were no ‘extras’ i.e. plates of vegetables put out on the tables either which would have been nice. I created a spreadsheet with full guest names and choices of food on and this was sent to the venue a few days before the event. There were 26 of us and we were seated on a long table and were the only ones dining I believe. There were two or three waitresses serving us who were really lovely and obviously doing their best but I would say that the place just wasn’t able to deal with such a large booking. It was clear that all was not going well from the beginning, the starters were brought out and given to the wrong people, they then had to be swapped around and given to the right people by which time some of them had started to go cold, the same thing happened with the mains and also the desserts, even though another menu list of everyones names and choices were given out to the staff again during this time to help them out. One of our guests was gluten free and as there were no gluten free options on the menu we were sent I requested one of the dessert choices on the menu to be gluten free. This was highlighted in red and quite clear, however I thought I’d better check during the meal if it was in fact going to be gluten free, only to be told that no it wasn’t so it seems that the guest would have been given the gluten choice without knowing but because I had checked they were offered something else as a replacement, it was a bit last minute though and I feel just lucky that the only choice they offered was acceptable. We weren’t offered drinks, we had to catch the servers attention separately and ask for ourselves throughout the meal. The food, if you were lucky enough to get it when it was hot, was quite nice though but if you didn’t like mashed potato you would have been hungry. One of our guests stayed in one of the lovely rooms and had paid for breakfast, they were told it was from 8 – 10am however when they came down in the morning at 9.30 there was no-one to be seen, the place was in darkness all doors were locked leading to the dining area, a cleaner tried calling someone but got no response so our guest and his girlfriend had to leave without having any food. I think

I'm sitting here reading some of the recent negative reviews and trying to work out if we're talking about the same place (we are). We were going to visit some family for Christmas and my wife and I arrived around 3pm on the 23rd Dec 2024. The staff at reception were lovely and couldn't be any more helpful. We went to our room where we were greeted with a huge comfortable super king size bed and an amazing bath that had like a rainfall shower. The room was spotlessly clean, had a big TV, and we were able to make our own tea & coffee, plus a few bottles of water added in for good measure. We had breakfast the following morning in the dining room where I had a full English breakfast which was beautiful, my wife went for the more healthy option of cereal and fruit. We then headed out to meet my sister and brother-in-law for a day shopping round the town. Instead of having my sister cook for us on Christmas day I'd booked "The Linden" for Christmas dinner for us all. If I'm honest there did seem to be a bit of a staffing issue that day but the staff that were there were excellent and dealt brilliantly with what appeared to be quite a stressful for day for them! Dinner was to die for, and we all enjoyed it immensely. The service was excellent and the food was delivered in a timely manner. I appears some people seem to had an issue here over Christmas but I genuinely couldn't fault the place. We left again on the 27th Dec and will be returning here at Easter when we come back again to visit my sister and her family.

Stayed at Linden for a long weekend whilst visiting family. From the moment i checked in to the moment i checked out nothing was a problem for the staff. Breakfast was amazing with lots of choices, both hot and cold. I did not eat lunch in the restaurant, but i had one of the best Sunday roasts I’ve have ever eaten! The service was excellent and the staff very friendly and knowledgeable. My room (9) the suite was just fantastic. So quirky and individual. It has a large bathroom with a rain fall power shower, roll top bath, his and hers twin sink. The bed and linen so soft and comfortable. Also it had a separate seating area with tea and coffee making facilities. Just a great room ! I had drinks in the bar on both Friday and Saturday evening and even the locals are super friendly. I will definitely be back on my next trip without doubt. Thank you Linden staff for a great stay, all the best for the future. Last but certainly not least, a big shout out to Adam for going the extra mile, a real credit to the team!!! Adam 💪🏻 the best!!!!